A Year of Irrelevant Cases and Unsailable Tensions
by Proud Muggles 4 Life
Summary: During the Weasley's weekly dinner, Harry brings along a surprise. Two surprises, as a matter of fact, one of which Lily Luna cannot overlook.


**Disclaimer: The character's and locations mentioned in this fanfiction belong to J.K. Rowling, with the exception of Dina, Saraphina and other OC's that might come up at a later time. There are also some quoted here that are not mine and I either heard them somewhere or read them from tumblr.**

It was a steaming day at the end of July, with the sun glaring down mercilessly. In the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole, the Burrow stood, as hectic and cluttered as always. Despite its outward appearance, there was no denying the homely and protective presence that it provided as well.

Within the inside of the Burrow, Molly Weasley stuck her head into the sitting room, looking both frantic and harassed.

"Luna and Fleur, I need your help in the kitchen for a minute! Hermione and Ginny, you set the table for me dears! Audrey, would you call the children in for dinner? Where's Angelina? She might be with the children, can you call her in as well, Audrey? Arthur, you fix up the sitting room! Everyone else, dinner will be ready in ten minutes, so you better wash up or none for you!"

She said all of this in one breath and it came out so fast that they had almost missed what she said. She then quickly ducked back into the kitchen, leaving everyone to their tasks, and continued rushing back and forth, trying to get everything done as soon as possible.

She usually would not have been as wound up for a Sunday dinner, but tonight was quite different than the others. Harry had told her that he would be bringing two guests over for this night's dinner, and she was almost positive that one of the guests was a _girl_.

Harry had always been like a son to her, and it wouldn't do for the poor girl he was bringing to feel anything but welcome on her first time in the Burrow, especially when Molly hadn't seen Harry with anyone since his divorce with Ginny several years back.

She had almost pushed away her suspicion when he first mentioned it to her, as he was bringing over _two_ guests, but she just could not shake away the feeling that he might at least fancy one of the guests. He had also been acting weirdly as of late and not visiting as often. What else could it be?

Outside in the garden, however, stood both Hermione and Ginny. They were setting up plates and cutlery in a presentable fashion along the expanded dinner table that Bill and Charlie had placed earlier.

They knew that Mrs. Weasley had made them do the table rather than assist her in the kitchen as they were both miserable cooks. They were both also used to Mrs. Weasley's antics and had needed no further motivation to drop what they were doing and rush to the garden. They did not want to situate themselves on her 'bad side'

Ginny, however, couldn't help from noticing that Hermione was placing her assigned plates with a little more force than necessary.

"Oi! What's got you all frustrated?" questioned Ginny.

"I've been looking at a report and this idiot kept on messing everything up!" grumbled Hermione. "Really, how else would you measure stupidity?"

Instead of answering, Ginny lifted up a finger to Hermione and then yelled out: "Oi, Ron! How tall would you say you are?"

She didn't receive an answer, neither was she expecting one. She and Hermione made eye contact and immediately burst out laughing.

A third voice accompanied theirs and not a moment later they saw George enter the garden, followed by a panting Mrs. Weasley, who had a pot levitated in front of her.

"Good one, Gin!" George stated, a broad smile firm across his face.

"Oh, Hermione dear, would you please set two more plates on the table?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she set a large pot along the middle of the table.

"Two more plates!" exclaimed a baffled Ginny. "But there are already 40 plates! That should be more than enough for all of us!"

"Exactly!" continued Hermione. "I've counted them myself you see! 2 for you and Mr. Weasley, 6 for Bill and his family, 5 for Charlie and his children, 4 for Percy and his family, 8 for George's family as well as mine and Ron's, 4 for Luna's family and another 4 for Neville, 3 for Ginny, Harry and Michael, and the last 4 for their children including Teddy".

George's smile fell from his face and Ginny heard him counting under his breath.

Unaware of Ginny's snickering, Mrs. Weasley stated obviously, "Well, Harry has two extra guests coming over tonight, dear! I think he might be courting one of them!"

"Courting!" Ginny blurted out before she could help herself, and the same time that George blurted, "Who says courting anymore?''

He took one look at Ginny and then continued, "And yes, courting is what she said, love." he teased. "Why? Is there a problem?"

"Of course not, I was just wondering if I had heard her clearly. You know that I am married to Michael now, George, and me and Harry are better off as friends."

"Whatever you say…"

Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother and continued on with helping Hermione without another word.

Not even fifteen minutes later, the table was fully set and equipped with food, and everyone was seated. Harry, on the other hand, still has not shown. It was not like him to be late, and everyone was starting to get worried.

Just as Mr. Weasley was about to go and floo him, Harry entered the garden, accompanied by a beautiful woman in a red velvet dress and a young girl in muggle clothing. The girl looked quite odd in her torn, faded trousers and tight, black turtleneck sweater.

Harry paused halfway towards the table and gazed at each of their expressions. With a deep breath and a guarded look, he took the woman's hand, laced their fingers together and cleared his throat.

"Alright now, everyone pay attention, I have an announcement to make and I only have one minute."

"Why? Are you in a hurry? You just got here!" questioned James.

"No, I was referring to your relatively short attention span." explained Harry.

He then looked at the sea of people once more, and said, "Everyone, I would like you to meet Dina," he paused and then said, "my fiance."

Before he could continue, Lily, who had been drinking some pumpkin juice, choked unceremoniously and looked at her father with a startled expression. Harry had enough tact to pretend not to notice and introduced his second guest. "And this is her daughter, Saraphina."

"Merlin's beard!" Hugo cried out and then glanced at Lily in apprehension.

It was deathly silent for a few moment, then a gleeful squeal erupted from Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, Harry dear! I'm so happy for you! I knew it! I knew it! Oh, have a seat, dear, would you? Come on!"

She gestured for them to take Harry to take his usual seat on the left Hermione with Dina and Saraphina to sit in the empty seats on his right.

Harry knew that he should've had Saraphina sit on the children's end of the table with the others, but everyone was already seated and he knew she would have been uncomfortable sitting without having him and her mother next to her.

This is to be expected since Saraphina has yet to fully adjust to the concept of Magic, despite the fact that she is a halfblood. Although Saraphina attended Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she was still raised with her muggle mom since her pureblood father abandoned them. The idea of a family dinner and lifestyle revolving around magic still seemed baffling for her. He could see this as she behaved as he did when he was first introduced to magic and Hogwarts at eleven.

As Harry was taking a seat, he caught a glimpse of Lily. She looked as though she had been forced to swallow a lemon. Her eyes were too narrow for Harry's liking, but he chose to ignore it in favor of keeping the peace on the table and proceeded to introduce Dina and Saraphina to everyone seated.

When they were all seated, Arthur cleared his throat lightly and then asked Dina, "So Dina, where do you happen to be from? You don't look..." he tried to find the right word, but before he could continue, James interrupts him by stating, "...White."

The table's occupants roared with bafflement, and Ginny was quick to lean across the table and 'tag' Hermione, who had been seated in front of her. Hermione then turned to her right and tagged Harry, who also in turn, tagged Dina. Dina, however, did not understand the sentiment and looked at Harry quizitly.

"Well, pass it on dear." He told her, as though it was a relatively normal occurrence. She didn't bother questioning him further and then turned and tagged Saraphina. Luna and then Teddy followed. When it came to Teddy, however, he turned and smacked the back of James' head instead of tagging him.

Everyone seated around Dina and Saraphina acted as though nothing had happened and continued glancing at them rather than James and Teddy. Arthur also repeated his earlier question and waited for a response.

As Dina opened her mouth to reply, Saraphina was the one to answer in a thick accent. "We're actually 'rom Cuba."

Harry's head whipped in her direction and felt himself say, "No you're not. You're Lebanese!"

Saraphina sighed and then said, "Half-Lebanese actually, remember the sperm-donor was Egyptian. Anyways, you know how my mind is like an internet browser: several tabs open, half without feedback, 1000 pop-up ads, and where the hell is that song coming from?"

This prompted Arthur to launch into interrogating Saraphina about what she meant and what the internet was. When she had explained everything to him as much as she could, Arthur asked her how she knew so much about something for muggles.

"Well you see, I am a halfblood and my mother is a muggle."

Silence fell across the table yet again, but Hermione was quick to prevent it from lasting.

"My parents are muggles," she started. "They are dentists, you see."

Arthur smiled brightly and then said, "You're a very peculiar person, Saraphina. Don't you think so, everyone?"

"I think not. She seems rather bland, actually." Lily snapped.

"Lily!" Harry chastised, astonished.

"Harry!" She bit back, her face red with rage.

"Ginny!" Harry cried out again, aghast.

"George!" cried out one of the gingers. Saraphina recognized him as George through his missing ear, which Harry had made sure to mention to her previously so that she would not question George on how he lost it, and was confused as to why he had called out his own name, but then she saw the broad smirk that was set on his face. Was he imitating the scene from shrek?

Saraphina was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of a muffled sneeze, which was quickly followed by the sound of a chair scrapping on the soil, and turned just to see Lily storming into the house, furiously snapping the door closed behind her.

"Look what you've done Ron" said George exasperatedly.

"I sneezed! What? I can't sneeze now?" exclaimed Ron. George was quick to pat him on the back while shaking his head softly.


End file.
